Part Numbers Cannot Be Open to Interpretation

By Mike Hart

Many small manufacturing companies operate using general accounting software such as QuickBooks combined with spreadsheets to address manufacturing issues. I refer to this is an “informal” manufacturing system. 

In an informatl manufacturing system it is common for component specifications such as revisions and manufacturer part numbers to be entered on the fly during purchasing, as specified on drawings or spec sheets. This type of manual purchasing is a slow and cumbersome process where mistakes can easily be made.